The Saudi government has announced plans to award contracts worth SR1.4 billion ($372 million) for the development of key museum and heritage projects across the kingdom, said a report.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) will develop nine museum and heritage projects across the kingdom at cost of over SR433 million ($155 million), reported Arab News.

The SCTH said contracts worth more than SR1.4 billion will be awarded for another five projects within its cultural heritage projects.

The new projects come as part of King Salman’s programme for cultural heritage in the kingdom, said the report.

These include the establishment of new museums, development of existing ones, expansion of the National Museum, maintenance and fencing at the archaeological and heritage sites.

The project involves design of museum exhibitions; executive plans for the rehabilitation of Al Saqqaf Palace in the Makkah region; expansion and development of the National Museum (Phase One); design and preparation of the executive plans of the SCTH regional museums in Dammam, Tabuk, Baha, Hail, Jouf, Najran and Asir regions, besides working on the museum projects in Al Qasim, Arar, Tima and Ahsa.

A major project will be the revamp of railway museum in Madinah; the rehabilitation project of Khuzam Palace and other historic and heritage buildings in Ahsa; and the rehabilitation of 10 heritage buildings in Yanbu (Phase One), said the Arab News report.

There are now 230 projects covering heritage with its various components such as antiquities, museums, sites of Islamic history, urban heritage, and handicrafts, plus other components of the kingdom’s heritage, it added.